Wireworld Series 7 Equinox and Eclipse Speaker Wire and Interconnect

Lucky Sevens

Over the years numerous examples of Wireworld Audio speaker cables and interconnects have crisscrossed my listening room. So many in fact that a common theme has gradually emerged. On a tonal basis, Wireworld’s wires have been eerily consistent model to model—even to the point of predictability. Their character has always centered on the midrange first, eschewing frequency-extreme flashiness in favor of an overall neutral response. At times I’d characterize them as leaning slightly toward the darker side of the tonal spectrum, but that’s an impression I don’t want to exaggerate. It is more a reflection of the fact that Wireworld doesn’t hype the treble octaves like many other cables I’ve encountered. There is no false detail or transient etching.

Still, in retrospect, there seemed to be room for improvement in its mid-priced offerings, especially in spatiality and low-level resolving power. Thus, when I was afforded the opportunity to hear Wireworld’s popular Equinox and Eclipse wires in their new 20th Anniversary Series 7 configuration, I jumped at the chance.

These mid-priced wires are the heart of the Wireworld line— what I consider the two most popular upgrade price points. Both use Ohno Continuous Cast copper conductors (OCC), but Eclipse uses a heavier gauge, which results in thicker, stiffer products.

If my coverage of Equinox 7 is giving you a sense of déjà vu, it should. In Issue 236 TAS writer Ron Doering included Equinox in a survey of mid-priced cables. In that article RD pointed out its “pleasingly rounded and warm presentation,” a conclusion that I’d reached in an earlier go-round with Equinox. Even so, I wanted to contrast Equinox 7 with the uptown Eclipse 7 wires, bouncing them off one another to illustrate what enthusiasts can expect when contemplating an upgrade.

My impressions of Equinox 7 essentially mirror RD’s with the exception that compared with earlier Wireworld iterations, the Series 7 wires are a bit brighter and more open in the treble, and though they have a warm overall signature, low-level veiling has been reduced and the recovery of inner detail improved. The Equinox Series 7 is a more tonally neutral and open wire and bears a significant tonal resemblance to its pricier sibling, Eclipse 7. However as I listened to Rhapsody in Blue [St. Louis, Slatkin; Reference Mastercuts], the Equinox Series 7’s balance was clearly more midrange-y and just a little brasher and flintier on brass transients. Soundstage width and dimensionality were mid-pack for this range with a corresponding hint of congestion around neighboring orchestral images. On balance Equinox will be a tough competitor with the recent reviewed Nordost Purple Flare and WyWires Blue (Issue 236).